Calling for Volunteers in Second Life

Livio Korobase’s Musiclandia

It’s a New Year and my Second Life will have some major shifts beginning now. Oh, I’m still going to keep blogging and messing about, but I have told interested parties that I won’t be working on various events that have historically occupied most of my time.

I do have a new project and I want to invite you to join me. If you’ve followed me over the years then you know I’m never happier than I am when working with a team of Volunteers on special occasions like the Birthday. I also have a passion for inworld art (of all kinds) and there are a number of locations which allow me to indulge that interest. None more so than the sims belonging to the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA)↑.

My new project will combine both of these favoured aspects of my virtual Life.

Rust by Cica Ghost

If you were to hop on board a freighter and head out into the Second Life Sea you might, eventually, encounter a group of 29 islands collectively known as LEA. The majority of these sims (20) are devoted to Artist In Residence Grants which are awarded twice a year. Artists receive the use of a full region for 5 months to explore and realize their visions of an immersive art experience. Most of the images in this post are from exhibits during 2013.

The remaining 9 islands are used for a variety of purposes. One, LEA6, curated by Jayjay Zinfanwe of the University of Western Australia, offers one month grants in their LEA Full Sim Series↑. Other sims are devoted to machinima or performance or, sometimes, special projects such as the recent tribute to Oscar Niemeyer↑.

Music happens all over the place, sometimes in conjunction with an Artist’s 5 month grant, sometimes as part of a special event. There are wacky types of activities (remember the Avatar Games?) and more are planned. We also can’t forget the Sandbox↑.

Calix Demina’s Camels in the Sandbox

It’s not easy to know everything that’s going on at any given time. There is a Welcome Area, which helps, and we’re working on improvements to it. It attracts not only the casual visitor, however, but also brand new residents sent there from Orientation. Encountering great art is a wonderful way to see the possibilities of a virtual world, but if you’re still figuring out how to teleport it’s tough to appreciate that. :)

So ….. my primary focus in 2014 is the creation and growth of a corps of LEA Volunteers. We will focus on the visitor experience and, unlike the Birthday or Burn2, this will be an ongoing initiative – one that lasts 12 months a year. The Team will be involved in greeting (both for visitors seeking art in general and for those newbies needing guidance), supporting games and other special events, any minor security tasks, translation, and whatever else we might do to help. The roles will evolve as we go.

The Steampunkables

Training for the Team will begin later this month. If you’re interested, and I hope you are, please join the inworld group LEA Volunteers and check the notices. If you’ve worked with me before then you’ll know how much fun we can have and how supportive the Team can be.

If you’ve never done anything like this before don’t worry – we’ll have lots of great people there with you. If you have done this before then be prepared, some aspects of LEA are going to make this very different to any event-based Volunteering you remember.

Linden Lab donated the land for LEA, that’s why their name is on the letterhead (much like somebody getting their name on a new hospital wing when they provide the money for its construction).  All of the management, organizing, and art is done by residents. We will be there to support visitors to the 29 sims. It is my hope, and intent, that we’ll help make it a really popular destination and have fun doing it. So come and get involved. I look forward to having you on the Team. :)

The Machinima Open Studio Project

Posted by honourmcmillan on January 1, 2014

https://honourmcmillan.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/calling-for-volunteers-in-second-life/